In a blog entry today, top-notch U.S. sports photographer Brad Mangin has written an enthusiastic assessment of the EOS-1D Mark IV's AF system, based on his use of a preproduction body at an NFL football game this past weekend.

Mangin, who refers to the EOS-1D Mark III and its AF system as "a complete disaster," says the EOS-1D Mark IV, by comparison, "performed flawlessly" as it captured many more properly focused frames than its predecessor.

The post includes a link to a RAW CR2 taken with the camera, which can be processed in Canon's Digital Photo Professional 3.7.3 or other software that supports EOS-1D Mark IV RAW files. Note that the CR2 may not download properly in some browsers if left-clicked; to workaround that, right-click on the photo containing the link and choose your browser's save-linked-file-to-disk option.

Look Sharp: Brad Mangin's blog entry on the EOS-1D Mark IV

The Canon EOS-1D Mark IV is now shipping in various countries worldwide, though as of this writing it has not been released for sale in the U.S. or Canada.